White: UFC champ Bisping vs. St-Pierre could still happen – after Romero

A fight between middleweight champion Michael Bisping and former longtime welterweight titleholder Georges St-Pierre could still happen – just not in the way that was originally expected.

Earlier this year, White announced that Bisping (30-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC) will meet St-Pierre (25-2 MMA, 19-2 UFC), who hasn’t fought since November 2013, later this year. But when St-Pierre recently said he won’t be available until after October, White went with Plan B.

Earlier this week, he said Yoel Romero (12-1 MMA, 8-0 UFC), who’s No. 2 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, will instead get the next shot at top-ranked Bisping, who hasn’t fought since an October 2016 title defense over Henderson. A date hasn’t been set for that title fight.

During a subsequent private fan and media event in Toronto (watch the highlights above), St-Pierre said he’s holding out hope the original matchup still happens.

“It’s the fight I want, and it’s the fight Bisping still wants, from what I’ve heard,” St-Pierre said. “I’m focused, and I want it, but we’ll see what happens. I still have hope.”

On Friday, White suggested Bisping vs. St-Pierre still has legs – just not in the original format.

“GSP and Bisping isn’t happening,” White said during a media scrum. “GSP’s not going to be ready until November, and we’ve got to move on.”

With the change, White said it may make more sense to have St-Pierre make his long-awaited return at welterweight instead of middleweight. Still, Bisping remains a possibility for one of MMA’s all-time pound-for-pound greats, he said.

” … (But) if Bisping goes in and fights Yoel soon and wins the fight, then maybe we could do the (St-Pierre) fight,” White said. “But if Bisping doesn’t win, I think St-Pierre goes to 170.”

White said Bisping was “devastated” with the change of plans – St-Pierre is likely a far more lucrative opportunity when it factoring in pay-per-view splits, after all – but he’s not ruling out the matchup for a future card. He also said he’s still on good terms with St-Pierre.

“I’m fine with GSP,” he said. “Yeah, we’re good.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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